I love this.
Started at the bottom, just like everybody else.
When I finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life, I was already behind on the societal time line. Society actually expects you to know what you want to do in High School. That is fucking dumb. You don’t expect them to make the right decisions with ANYTHING else, expect what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Gotcha.
There’s always college to figure yourself out! Yea, well, you’re also supposed to party it up and enjoy not being in the real world and experiment in college. If you happen to go to a terrible college, they don’t really guide you or give you connections you need to make it into the real world successfully once you’re done partying and bullshitting. So you graduate and go “Oh, shit. I never decided what I wanted to do because all these classes made me want to kill something.”
If you’re lucky, you went to a better college. I wasn’t so lucky. Instead of helping they deterred me from ever leaving with red tape and bullshit. Internships? Go find your own & let us know how it works out for you. I was under the impression the college would help you intern somewhere they’ve previously made connections in order to give you connections in the real world, specifically in the field you’re intending to enter into. No. They let the students go out and form those relationships for the school, so they get to benefit later on. You do all the work, they get all the glory. And your money. Undergraduate school: you’ve done nothing to further my life, education or “prepare me for the real world.” I’ve managed to do that all on my own, thankyouverymuchfornothing.
Either way, I got out. Congrats to me.
I’m glad I took my time to figure out what I wanted to do and the best way to go about it. Unfortunately, this put me behind everyone else, but it also let me learn from their mistakes. I wasn’t required to intern anywhere before I graduated college. I’m now currently in the TV broadcasting world. Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to work in TV/Film without connections? Try impossible. If I hadn’t watched others fail at beginning a career due to a lack of internships, I would never have interned. Which would mean I would never work in this field.
I interned at a fantastic company. It paid, I got to do amazing things and meet awesome people. Everyone in this field started out as a PA. Whether they went on to direct, produce or manage overall productions. They all get it. They all understand what it’s like. Everyone here has a bigger dream for themselves they’re trying to mold into a reality while they’re here. It keeps everyone happy, productive and helpful.
I now work at that same company. I’ve decided to keep a small log of what I notice at this place. Even if I end up leaving to work somewhere else, this will always be the first place I really went to work everyday and loved it. My first taste of success after finishing school. Doing what I want to do & getting paid for it.
So far I’ve noticed:
- Whenever we call a “team meeting” it’s really code for “it’s someone’s birthday, come get cake.”
- The same people that ignored me as an intern weren’t doing it to be rude, it was just easier for them to assume I wasn’t going to be a permanent fixture and to not get attached. It went so far as for the 4 months I interned, a director called me “intern” and only bothered to learn my name after she realized the company would hire me again. Now she strikes up a conversation whenever I see her in passing.
- The people here are helpful and respectful. I know it isn’t like that everywhere, but for now that’s my reality. I might be a PA, but I’m far from being treated like a “slave” or “the bitch” of the team. There are people who will go so far as to stick up for me if they think someone asked me to do something unfairly. I appreciate feeling like part of the team.
This was hands down the best decision of my life. Even if it took so long for me to make it.
